Alexandre Arrechea: DUST

November 17, 2005 - January 1, 2006

Alexandre Arrechea: DUST

November 17, 2005 - January 1, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Magnan Projects is pleased to present the first solo U.S. exhibition for Alexandre Arrechea. A former member of the internationally renowned Cuban artist collaborative Los Carpinteros, Arrechea has successfully embarked on a solo career. Arrechea does not limit himself to one medium of artistic expression, he is a highly skilled draftsman, sculptor and installation artist.

The Gallery will be transformed into DUST, an installation of five life- size hand-blown glass punching bags. Each bag contains a collection of debris from a specific city that has great significance to the artist. In each of these cities where he lived and worked, Arrechea has given a part of himself and, in turn, has taken memories with him. However powerful, a memory is not tangible.

Arrechea defines what he believes is the one “element of truth” in each bag by placing the debris inside a container (in this case a glass punching bag) and identifying its origins on the surface of the bag. The “dust” is merely an abstraction of the place identified by the name. By transporting dust across borders (sometimes with great difficulty) and placing it in a contained space, Arrechea connects and accumulates new experiences -- creating new realities and visual metaphors from his personal memories.
Arrechea participated in numerous exhibitions and Biennials including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Shanghai Art Museum, China; P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; Art in General, New York; Kunsthalle, Berlin Germany; Arizona State University and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; the Havana Biennial 2000; Shangai Biennial 2002, Sao Paulo Biennial 2002; Liverpool Biennial 2004 and the Venice Biennale 2005. He was a recipient of the UNESCO Prize for Artistic Excellence in 2000 as a member of Los Carpinteros. Public collections include the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; and Museo de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba, and the Taipei Biennial.

Alexandre Arrechea was born in Trinidad, Cuba and graduated from the prestigious Superior Art Institute of Havana in 1994. He currently lives and works in Havana, Cuba.

The glass punching bags were fabricated at UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, New York and blown by well-known glass artist Dan Spitzer who also fabricated the Robert Rauschenberg glass tires. The hard work and dedication to this project by UrbanGlass is greatly acknowledged.